Gwendolen went to bed that evening late, after a day of nursing her sick father and the majority of her servants, she had finally decided to rest a little. Gwen couldn't help but find the entire situation slightly strange, all the sick had ventured into town a day prior, had come back with what looked like teeth marks or scratched etched into their skin and all had quickly developed a alarmingly high fever. Changing out of her dress and into a cotton nightgown, Gwendolen tiresomely crawled into bed, where sleep quickly claimed her. However her slumber didn't last for long as she awoke with the sounds of a large ruckus coming from down stairs, getting out of her bed Gwen slipped on her embroidered
robe and slippers before opening the her heavy bedroom door, walking out into the dimly lit hallway, the noise seemed louder and it was followed by a high pitched cry.
Gwen's eye widened in fear, this was not just her servants being to loud, this was something else, were they being attacked? As she inched slowly towards the staircase she swallowed the large lump forming in her throat and walked down the wooden stairs, trying to keep light footsteps so the steps wouldn't creak and alert the intruders of her presence. As she reached the bottom she looked down both coridoors, the noise was coming from the parlor room, her eyes darted around to see what she could possible use as a weapon, settling upon a heavy silver candlestick, with her hands firmly grasping her weapon she quietly tiptoed towards the room at the end of the hall only to be distracted by another scream behind her, turning sharply she saw her maid Ana running towards her holding her neck with a blood soaked rag. Gwenolden's stomach churned slightly at the sight "My lady help me please" she begged with tear soaked eyes.
"Hush!" she scolded with a harsh whisper remembering the intruders at the end of the hall but it was too late, a guttural growl alerted her of their parents, she turned and saw two deathly pale men with bloodied mouths and black eyes at the end of the hall, she backed up slowly dropping the candlestick "run" she muttered her voice barely louder than a whisper, she grabbed Ana by the wrist and ran up the stairs dragging her with their pursuers hot on their heels, Ana's screams piercing her ears as they ran, she didn't blame the girl, she would probably be doing the same thing if she wasn't so focused on finding a hiding place.
Settling for her fathers room she dragged the maid inside, pushing a heavy chest in front of the door to try and keep those demons out. Gwendolen stood back and watched as they pounded against the door, her chest heaving up and down as she tried to catch her breath,
What was happening? She thought to herself until a loud thump caught her attention, turning her head she saw Ana slumped on the floor her back against the wall, rushing over she removed the soaked rag to have blood squirt out of the wound onto her chest, resisting the urge to gag she mustered up some courage and placed her hand firmly onto the woman's neck in a attempt to stop the bleeding "Ana, who did this? Was it one of those things?" Gwen asked with a soft voice, Ana weakly nodded, the loss of blood quickly began to affect her.
"I-i went to check on Ralph, the stable boy's fever when he attacked me, he b-bit me." Her voice was weak, too weak, Gwen let out a small sigh applying her other hand as the Ana's blood seeped through her in between her fingers "What about the others? Are they the same?" she asked, no answer came, looking at the girls face she knew instantly she had passed away, feeling sadness gather in her heart she removed her blood soaked hands wiping them on her robe "be at peace Ana" she said to the lifeless body. Standing up she fell back against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment trying figure out what she was to do next, a creak made her eyes shoot open, standing in front of her was her father, the same deathly pale skin and the same darkened eyes as the men downstairs, she barely had time to let out a scream as he lunged at her, diving to the floor her father collided with the fall, falling to the floor with a thump. "Papa" she cried as she stumbled to her feet, walking over to the body cautiously, she looked down to see his chest rising slightly and a sense of relief washed over her "Papa?" she called lightly.
Lord Stanley's eyes shot open to reveal the blackness once more, letting out scream Gwen made a dash for the door but feeling a hand grasp around her ankle brought her swiftly to the ground face first. Stunned for a moment, her hand flew to her nose and drew back to see the scarlet fluid trickle out from her nostrils, she kicked violently as her father tried to bite her "Papa please" she begged but it was no use, this was no longer her father. It wasn't long until he was above her trying his best to bite at her skin, she fought with all her might but he had seemed to developed a new strength. A flash of silver caught her eye, it was her fathers sword! Using one arms to continue to push Stanley away she stretched the other one and grasped the hilt of the sword she managed to plunge the blade into his side. He fell to the ground quickly, standing to her feet, Gwen had no time to mourn, she removed the sword to looked away to find a way of escape. The window proved to be her best option, smashing the glass with the blade she through that out first and watched as it landed in the bush, the drop was at least fifteen feet but this was her only chance of survival, carefully lowering herself down she let go and fell in a heap on the grass "damn" she hissed as a moment of pain rushed through her.
Grabbing the heavy sword Gwen ran as fast as she could into the forest, she ran until she could run now more and using a tree for support she stopped to catch her breath, it was a cold night, and the thinness of her nightgown and robe made small bumps appear on her skin from the chill, her breath was viable also, her chest heaved heavily as she looked around, she spotted the outline of something in the near distance, her grasp tightened on the hilt of her sword as she walked the object. The moonlight lit up a carriage and two slumped horses along with two men and a young girl, feeling relief wash over her she walked towards them "Sirs!" she called out "Please you must help me" she begged.